In 2003, Hillary Clinton screeched "I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you're not patriotic. We should stand up and say we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration."
Politics isn't something I like to delve into on this blog. But the past few days I've been hearing so much outright nonsense, outrageous, slanderous allegations and watching some pretty wild behavior coming from certain people (most who should know better) in certain corners of the country that I've got to speak out.In 2003, Hillary Clinton screeched "I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration [the George W. Bush Republican administration] somehow you're not patriotic. We should stand up and say we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration."Clarence W. Dupnik, Sheriff of Pima County, Arizona & a lead criminal investigator in the tragic shootings last Saturday that killed 6 and wounded 14 has abandoned his objectivity. Calling his own state of Arizona - the state he is sworn to objectively protect and serve under the law, mind you - called Arizona the 'capital' of hatred,'" (Medrano) and "a mecca for prejudice and bigotry." (Somashekhar)
But not only that, Dupnik has lashed out and outright invented motivations for the gunman without a shred of evidence to back up their allegations. Saying things like "all the vitriol [vitriol?] we hear inflaming the American public by people who make a living off of doing that." [Insinuating at least conservative talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and others if not outright blaming them.] "That may be free speech, but it's not without consequences." (Medrano)
Yet the Pima County sheriff seems to me to himself be spewing hatespeech in the context of this gunman and/or his actions. Speaking at an immigration rally at a local church Dupnik said, "We didn't have a Tea Party until we had a black president." (Medrano) Really, Sheriff? I haven't heard any dissent over Obama's race on talk radio or anywhere else for that matter. Rather, I have heard plenty of dissent and debate about his administration's dictatorial, anti-constitutional behavior and their exercise of almost-gunboat diplomacy on the American people. And, as Mrs. Clinton pointed out, rightfully so.
Besides, didn't she say it was every American's right to dissent, disagree and debate with any administration? It would seem that "any" would mean any administration whether led by a Republican (like in power when she made the comment) or Democrat, conservative or liberal...well, you get the point.
Maybe you do, but Sheriff Dupnik and these other opportunistic propogandists sure don't.
Without so much a single shred of evidence to support the charge, these people are trying to blame "the inflammatory rhetoric" and "vitriol" of the Tea Party and conservative talk radio and even Sarah Palin for this guy's actions. (You remember Sarah Palin; she's the "no factor at all" candidate the left is absolutely-in-no-way-scared-of-or-thinks-is-a-political-factor-at-all-in-2012. Yet they track not only her every move but also that of her family and friends and never miss an opportunity to take a potshot at. Yeah, right; they dont' think she's a player. No...not at all).
What the....? Conservative talk radio? Anti-Obama rhetoric? Sarah Palin and the Tea Party? Where did all that come from? There isn't a fraction of a hint that this guy was politically aligned with either the right or left or even the Barking Spider Political Party, for that matter. Even the liberal Washington Post says "There is no indication that the suspect, Jared Lee Lougner, identified with the tea party or was politically conservative." (Somashekhar) So, where does that accusation come from?
All we know for sure about this gunman is, this dude was scary - whacko scary. So much so that people in his college classes used to sit close to the door thinking he may come uncorked in class and they'd need to flee for their lives. And - according to the gunman's own websites and other technological outlets of his opinions, he was sure ticked off about incorrect use of grammar, the lack of a gold standard backing up our currency and the perceived ignorance of the fellow citizens in the area he lived.
Hmmm. Given that last one, sounds like he and Sheriff Dupnik share some of the same opinions on their fellow citizenry.
But we do not have any indication - zero, zilch, nada - that he was politically aligned one way or another.
The Post did point out that "MSNBC talk show host Keith Olbermann [another outspoken liberal], who acknowledged and apologized for his role in the acrimonious political climate, praised Dupnik's 'extraordinary' comments at the close of his show on Saturday (January 8, 2011)."
But the Post also said something rather telling; "During the campaign, liberal pundits and politicians asserted that the sometimes militant language some conservative politicians used could incite violence." (Somashekhar)
Now, in light of this fabricated charge and the obvious emotional bias of opportunistic hypocrites and hatespeakers like Sheriff Dupnik and Olbermann, tell me again which side it is that's using "militant language...incit[ing] violence?
And, for the record, I will state that since the days of Mrs. Clinton's husband's administration, I have listened to quite a bit of conservative talk radio (and sources on the other side of politics, as well) - Limbaugh, Levin, G. Gordon Liddy - and I've read several of their books. Hell, I've even met Sean Hannity in person and shook his hand. Yet, in all these years of listening and reading I have never - never - heard one of them even come close to incinuating nor outright advocating any kind of violent, tragic act like this gunman did last Saturday. And to accuse them of such is downright wrong.
So, don't look now liberal, emotionally-blinded and obviously-biased folks like Dupnik, Olbermann and others beating this drum, but the pot seems to be calling the kettle black here. By claiming this guy acted on some subliminal or blatant message from conservatives is making something out of nothing the likes of which Joseph Goebbels would've been proud of. And by claiming it's uncivilized, racist, prejudiced blahblahblah to criticize the contemptuious behavior of the until-recently-Democrat-controlled Congress and the Obama Administration is again making something from nothing. And by doing so you are exposing yourselves as hypocrites given Hilary Clinton's call to dissent duty back in 2oo3.
References:
Lourdes Medrano, Correspondent Christian Science Monitor online, January 10, 2011 http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0110/Lone-ranger-Tucson-s-tough-talking-sheriff-suddenly-has-national-spotlight, taken January 13, 2011
Sandhya Somashekhar, The Washington Post online, posted at 9:16 AM ET, January 9,2011 http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/sheriff-dupniks-criticism-of-p.html, taken January 13, 2011
